Method for drying cordage



P 1955 c. F. FAULKNYER 2,717,215

METHOD FOR DRYING CORDAGE Filed July 8, 1952 l6 6 k H /6 Z 0 Inventor:

Clarence F Faulkner his Attorne y United States Patent 0 2,717,215 METHOD FOR DRYING CORDAGE Clarence F. Faulkner, Athens, Ga., assignor to Puritan Cordage Mills, Inc., Louisville, Ky., a corporation of Kentucky Application July 8, 1952, Serial No. 297,703 3 Claims. (Cl. 117-7) The present invention relates to a novel method and means of removing excess treating liquids from cordage in a continuous process and in a manner which substantially dries the cordage for reeling.

Heretofore in the treatment of cordage with liquids for mildew proofing, dyeing, sizing or polishing and the like, the cord or rope is passed through a vat containing a treating liquid and, then, is led from the vat through squeezing rolls or wiper rolls or scrapers or brushes to remove the excess liquid and, then, is dried in various ways, such, for instance, as skying or passing the same through ovens or over heated drums to condition the cordage for reeling. These prior practices have required extensive and expensive apparatus and, particularly in skying, the cordage has required considerable space.

It has been found that, by causing portions of a treated rope or cord in spiral contact with each other to move in relatively opposite directions, any surplus of the treating fluid remaining on these portions of the cordage will be so effectively removed that the treated cordage is substantially dried and in a condition for reeling.

Consequently, it is the principal object of the invention to simplify prior practices in liquid treating and drying of cordage and to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art by eliminating expensive machinery and apparatus, costly to maintain, and to produce a liquid treated cordage more eificiently and in a cheaper and simpler manner.

The above object is attained by drawing a continuous strand of untreated cord or rope, from a suitable source of supply, through a liquid bath for the required duration of time to properly treat the cordage according to the character of the liquid employed, the cordage or rope as it emerges from the bath being passed in a manner to provide two oppositely moving flights of the treated cordage, the cordage of said flights being spirally wound about each other with one or more convolutions so as to bring the spiral convolutions of each flight into intimate wiping and squeezing contact with the other causing the excess liquid to be removed from the treated portions of the cordage and causing the same to become substantially dry. The cordage may be subjected to one or more stages of this squeezing and wiping action in successive oppositely moving flights, as may be found necessary to effect the aims and objects of this invention. The cordage, so treated and acted upon, is then passed to a reel upon which it may be wound.

The mechanical means for accomplishing the present invention preferably consists of a vat or tank containing a treating liquid and having, at least, a pair of spaced rollers over which the cordage, from a suitable source of supply, may be drawn back and forth as may be required for the cordage to remain in the bath, having consideration for the speed of the cordage passing through the bath. Above the liquid level in the bath are two rollers over which the cordage passes one or more times, from the rollers in the vat, to provide one ormore pairs of adjacent flights of the cordage, the flights of each pair traveling in opposite directions and having their intermediate portions between said rollers spirally wound around each other with one or more convolutions, the cordage then leading from said last mentioned rollers to a winding apparatus. One of the last mentioned rollers is, preferably, driven from a variable speed-changing ice means and is provided with grooves of increasing diameter over which pass successive flights from the vat so as to attain increasing tension on the cordageand to maintain the tautness of the cordage in its successive wringing and drying stages.

The above and other objects and aims of the present invention will become apparent as this specification proceeds; and the invention resides in the steps of procedure and in the organization and combination of parts, and their sundry details of construction, more fully set forth in the following specification.

In the drawings, which show the preferred embodiment of an apparatus for carrying out the invention, as at present devised and used, and which form part of this specification by reference:

Figure 1 is a plan view illustrating the method of manipulating cordage in accordance with the invention and showing one form of an apparatus by which said method may be carried into practice;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view illustrating the invention and taken substantially along line 2-2 of Figure l; and

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along lines 3-3 of Figure 2.

Referring specifically to the drawings, wherein like characters of reference refer to similar and like parts throughout the several views, the wringing and drying steps of the invention, as above described, may be accom plished by the provision of a vat or tank 10, which may be substantially rectangular in shape and open at its top, containing a suitable treating liquid 11. Below the liquid level in the vat and above its bottom are disposed two rollers 12 and 13, each positioned, respectively, adjacent the end walls 14 and 15 and positioned transversely of the vat, the said rollers being mounted at their ends in suitable bearings in the opposite'side Walls 16 of the vat. Each roller 12 and 13 is formed with a plurality of spaced grooves 17 and 18 therein, respectively, the grooves in one roller preferably being staggered or out of alignment with the grooves in the other roller to facilitate transfer of the flights of the cordage C engaging therein'and trained back-and-forth over said rollers in its progression from one roller to the other.

Disposed above the level 11 of the liquid in the vat, and preferably inwardly of the rollers 12 and 13, are two spaced and aligned pulleys or sheaves 19 and 2t positioned to receive the cordage from one of the rollers 12 and 13 in the vat and each is provided with a plurality of circumferential grooves 19 and 20 respectively over which the cordage passes back and forth to provide one or more pairs of adjacent reaches or flights, one of such pairs being indicated by c and another by 0 with the flights of each traveling in opposite directions as indicated by the arrows adjacent thereto. The pulleys 19 and 20 are preferably fast on shafts 21 and 22, respectively, extending transversely of the vat and journalled in its opposite side walls 16, one of said shafts, such as 21, being driven from a source of power (not shown) through a variable speed-change device, such as, for instance, a belt 23 passing around a cone-pulley 24. A belt shifter member 25 is provided to change the position of the belt on the cone-pulley for varying the speed of the shaft 21, as is well understood in the art. The grooves 19* in driven pulley 19 are progressively of larger diameter from the initial engagement of the cordage C therewith from the liquid in the vat; and the grooves 20 in idler pulley 20 may be of progressively decreasing diameter from the first entrainment of the cordage thereover from the driven pulley 19. However, substantially the same results are obtained should the grooves 20 in pulley 20 be of the same diameter.

With the apparatus just described, the leading end portion of a continuous strand of cordage C is drawn from a source of supply, denoted S, and passed under roller 13 and is then threaded back-and-forth between and over the rollers 12 and 13 as may be required for the time lapse necessary or desired for the cordage to remain in the treating bath 11 for the purpose of the treatment, having regard with respect to the rate of speed the cordage is to be drawn through the bath and characteristics of said cordage. The cordage is then led, preferably, from roller 13 up and over driving pulley 19, where it engages in the groove 19* thereof of smallest diameter, and then is led to an opposite groove 20 in pulley 20 and trained up and over in said groove and then wound spirally, as at 26, around the previously laid reach The number of the convolutions of this winding 26 may be as many as is required for the type of cordage under treatment and the type of treating solution being employed. Usually from five to six convolutions may be necessary for rope and a less number for thinner cord. The lead end portion of the cordage C is then carried to pulley 19 and brought up and over the second groove 19* thereof and, in the manner just described, is again passed up and around an opposite groove in the pulley 20 and back to another groove 19 in pulley 19 to provide a second pair of adjacent flights a twisted at 26 This may be repeated to provide as many pairs of adjacent twisted or spirally Wound flights as is found desirable or necessary. Ordinarily two or three twisted pairs of adjacent flights of the cordage are sufiicient for wringing and drying the average rope or cord treated with a preservative, mildewproofing, sizing, dyeing or polishing liquid. The lead end I of the cordage C then passes from under the roller 19 to a winding apparatus, not shown.

It is essential that the flights c and c of the cordage be kept taut during the wringing and drying action just described in order that the convolutions of their spirally wound portion 26 and 26 may be maintained in intimate frictional contact so that the convolutions of one flight, moving in one direction, will wipe against the other, moving in the opposite direction, with a squeezing action to remove the excess treating liquid. This action also results in substantially drying the cordage, particularly if repeated once or twice in successive flight stages 0 so that, when the cordage emerges from the apparatus, it is ready for reeling without further drying. The phenomenon of this drying is not particularly understood but it is suggested that it may result from the heat generated by the frictional contact between the opositely moving portions of the cordage in their twisted or wound relation, as shown at 26 and 26 In order to assure the degree of tautness required for the pairs of flights c and 0 etc., during the squeezing and drying operation at their spirally wound stages 26 and 26, this is provided by progressively increasing the diameters of the grooves in the pulley 19 and in progressively decreasing the diameter of the grooves in the pulley 20 so as to successively apply to the flights of each pair an increased tension on the cordage thereof.

The pulleys or sheaves 19 and 20 may be slidable, transversely of the vat or longitudinally of the rollers 12 and 13, by means of the splines 21 and 22 in the shafts 21 and 22 so as to enable the pulleys to be adjusted along their shafts to permit alignment of one pulley with any selected groove 17 or 18 to receive the cordage from either roller 12 or 13, according to the extent that the cordage has been passed back and forth over said rollers, and, further, to permit both pulleys to be brought into alignment with one another.

In some treatments of certain cordage, one spiral convolution may be all that is required in any two adjacent flights of the cordage, as at c; and, in other instances, this is so particularly if repeated in one or more successive pairs of adjacent flights, as indicated at c Since the types of cordage vary greatly that may be subjected to the wringing and drying of this invention, a more detailed specification of the number of convolutions employable with each type of cordage and with each type of liquid bath is impractical; and since the number of convolutions employed is not critical in obtaining the desired results provided a suflicient number are employed to wipe and squeeze the entire surface of the cordage While in intimate contactthe number of the convolutions and the tension thereon may be selected that will permit the spirally wound flights to be drawn in taut intimate frictional contact, while moving in opposite directions, without binding to the extent that the cordage will break or be unduly chafed as it is being drawn or pulled through the process or apparatus.

Having fully described the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed, it will be manifest that the objects sought by the present invention are attained having all of the advantages that have been enumerated therefor and that, while only one form of the invention has been shown and described herein, it is to be understood that the invention is subject to modifications and variations from the exact form herein described, and that the invention is only to be limited by the spirit thereof and the scope of the appended claims.

That which is claimed, as new, is:

1. The method of removing excess treating liquid from cordage, that has been passed through a treating bath, and of drying said cordage, said method comprising arranging a continuous length of said treated cordage, while in its Wet state, in at least two flights with intermediate portions of said flights wound one about the other so as to bring said wound portions in intimate frictional contact, maintaining said flights taut, and drawing said length of cordage longitudinally to cause the same to move progressively in its length and said flight portions in opposite directions.

2. The method of removing excess liquid from cordage and simultaneously drying the same, said method comprising drawing a continuous length of wet liquid treated cordage so that at least two liquid ladened portions thereof move in opposite directions with said portions wound one about the other in one or more spiral convolutions, and maintaining said oppositely moving portions taut to bring and keep said Wound convolutions thereof in intimate frictional squeezing contact during the entire drawing of said length of cordage.

3. The method of treating cordage comprising continuously drawing a length of cordage progressively through a treating bath and leading said cordage from said bath to form a plurality of pairs of treated and Wetted flights with the liquid ladened intermediate portions of said flights of each pair spirally wound one about the other and with the flights of each pair arranged to travel lengthwise in opposite directions as said length of cordage is being advanced by said drawing of the same, and applying tension to said oppositely moving portions of said cordage to render them taut and to bring the spiral convolutions thereof in intimate frictional contact.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,316,210 Wardwell Sept. 16, 1919 1,729,272 King Sept. 24, 1929 1,841,010 Carlson Jan. 12, 1932 1,944,822 Church et al. Jan. 23, 1934 2,040,105 Ritzert May 12, 1936 2,164,904 Cook July 4, 1939 2,365,069 Grimes Dec. 12, 1944 2,381,398 Bosomworth Aug. 7, 1945 2,386,148 Smith Oct. 2, 1945 2,398,787 Hansen et al. Apr. 23, 1946 2,426,493 Eriksson et a1 Aug. 26, 1947 2,464,536 Solliday et al Mar. 15, 1949 2,466,808 Henning et al. Apr. 12, 1949 2,513,432 Sisson July 4, 1950 2,575,981

Smith Nov. 20, 1951 

1. THE METHOD OF REMOVING EXCESS TREATING LIQUID FROM CORDAGE, THAT HAS BEEN PASSED THROUGH A TREATING BATH, AND OF DRYING SAID CORDAGE, SAID METHOD COMPRISING ARRANGING A CONTINUOUS LENGTH OF SAID TREATED CORDAGE, WHILE IN ITS WET STATE, IN AT LEAST TWO FLIGHTS WITH INTERMEDIATE PORTIONS OF SAID FLIGHTS WOUND ONE ABOUT THE OTHER SO AS TO BRING SAID WOUND PORTIONS IN INTIMATE FRICTIONAL CONTACT, MAINTAINING SAID FLIGHTS TAUT, AND DRAWING SAID LENGTH OF CORDAGE LONGITUDINALLY TO CAUSE THE SAME TO MOVE PROGRESSIVELY IN ITS LENGTH AND SAID FLIGHT PORTIONS IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS. 